As DBA’s and Developers we find ourselves performing more and more tasks which need to be achieved quickly and efficiently. People expect us to be using a variety of sophisticated tools to achieve what we need quickly and accurately. Here are some free SQL Server tools that can be used to let us complete our task list more quickly and more accurately:
A collection of scripts for running backups (with CHECKSUM), integrity checks (with the increasingly popular DATA PURITY option) and structured index maintenance. This is all available for free and with excellent logging. The scripts have many options and there is also a very complete single script installer with only a few parameters to set. The solution is as complex or as simple as you require and the solution is deployed at enterprise level by many companies and recommended highly by notable SQL people.
SSMSTools is a Management Studio Plugin for SQL Server. This invaluable toolset just keeps getting better and version 2.1 is available. There are many parts to the tool but the ones I use most are the insert and CRUD scripting.
Looking for a stored procedure among thousands or just want to see where a bit of code may be. I find this free SQL tool from redgate a massive time saver and it reduces frustration by saving time that could be better spent elsewhere.
This is a SQL Server take over script that performs a fast health check. Although fantastic as a script to use on a new server to you, I find it’s also very informative to read over the T-SQL to see what queries what to find out what – There’s always something to learn!
http://www.brentozar.com/blitz/
This is a stored procedure based on the SQL Server dynamic management views. It’s very complete and has numerous options depending on the level of detail and what you are looking for. http://sqlblog.com/blogs/adam_machanic/archive/2011/04/27/who-is-active-v11-00-a-month-of-activity-monitoring-part-27-of-30.aspx
This SQL Server Tool makes your query execution plan analysis easier and more informative. It provides a wealth of information and makes it more available and detailed when a plan requires investigation.
After a quick SQL statement tidy up before placing into that document, this is what T-SQL Tidy does simply and quickly. It’s available as a SSMS plug-in or as an interactive web page.
http://www.tsqltidy.com/